So this was the first time I’ve seen Bob since July 2016, in Bethlehem Pa. (This is about the 70-something-ish time I’ve seen him, and, speaking of numbers in that range, he’s looking and sounding great for 76!)

Going to see a Bob Dylan show in the year 2017 (or as Bob would have put it on his radio show, and perhaps the excellent and wonderfully idiosyncratic Nobel Lecture he just recorded) ‘in the year twenty and seventeen’ is something strange, wonderful, and as it should be, always a little surprising. Going in, one starts doing the math, as in ‘wow, my first Dylan show was 39 years ago!’ In recent years, the setlists have been much more static. This was the first show of the tour so there was perhaps expectation that there might be some big setlist surprise. There wasn’t, though some of the arrangements are brand new. As in recent years, there were six or so ‘standards’, most recorded at one point by Frank Sinatra (but many others too) all throughout the show, and for me, those were all highlights. I’m definitely ‘two thumbs up’ on his recent ‘Sinatra standards’ phase. The small-band arrangements of these mostly-classic songs somehow manage to echo a much larger orchestra, but stripped down to something intimate, coupled with fantastic ‘make-every-word count’ singing from Bob. Put it all together and you have several riveting, time-stops-on-stage moments built in to the show.Those familiar with the setlists from the past year will probably not see much variation. Compared to the show I saw last July, this was a similar but not identical setlist. The opener, as he’s been doing for many years now, was a somewhat growlier-then-usual ‘Things have changed’ and it seemed like they were getting the sound together for that one. Second song was an effective, straightforward ‘Don’t think twice, it’s alright’. Highway 61 was done without any lengthy blues jamming and was also straightforward and effective. I liked ‘Beyond Here lies nothing’ when I first heard it on the album, and the first few times live- but by now it seems to be a bit ‘same old-same old’, to be honest. All in all, the first four songs were fine, but didn’t jump out at me as something wildly special.

The first real highlight for me was the fifth song, “I could have told you”, which is featured early in the new album “Triplicate”. Bob’s singing on this, and every one of the ‘standards’, was emotional, respectful of the song and went right to the heart of lyric every time. These are true ‘singer’s songs’ where oversinging/over-emoting would ruin it, playing too ‘cool’ wouldn’t work either, and one has to really ‘live’ the songs as you sing them. Bob seems even more comfortable with these songs then the last two times I saw him deliver any of this material (Bethlehem PA in July 2016 and Beacon Theater NYC in December 2014). That image of him center-stage, holding the mic stand sideways, staring into the middle distance while the band watches carefully, is going to stay for a while. Brilliant.

The next song, ‘Pay in Blood’ with its almost-Shakespearian lyrical violence, was a nice contrast. His delivery of this has gotten smoother and is a long way from the roughness of the album version. During this song and some of the other “Tempest” material, I thought of the recent Nobel lecture he just recorded and released, and how many of the lines from Tempest echo some classic literature he discusses there (‘been searching for my family for 20 years’ from ‘long and wasted years’ must have been influenced by a reading of the Odyssey, perhaps? )

Melancholy Mood, another (and more obscure) standard dating to about 1940, was next, and it was a pleasure watching the band stretch out on the long intro ‘verse’ which used to be standard in big-band arrangements, the singers only coming in in the second half of the song. This band just gets better and better, and from where I was standing on the floor (about one or two people back from the front at worst, and by the end of the show ‘on the rail’) I could see all the subtleties of Receli’s drumming and the fine playing by the rest of the band.Duquesne Whistle had that long old-timey ‘Louis Armstrong-meets-Bill Monroe’ intro, and after that it was business as usual. I wish the vocal was a little louder on that song and perhaps a few others, however- some of the lines were a little buried. Next up was another big highlight, what the kids today would say was a “dramatic af” version of “Stormy Weather”, with that out-of-time intro, much like the excellent version on “Triplicate”.

And next was one of those strange moments that we as Bob Dylan fans live for, something familiar yet new, where you can say ‘there he goes, shattering everyone’s expectations again’. It was the familiar-to-even casual Dylan fans song ‘Tangled Up in Blue’. Rather than the arrangement he’s been giving it the past few years, however, he completely changed the music, with a different set of chords (mostly going from the I to flat VII, or in layman’s terms from, say, G to F again and again, and again,… and again) with some embellishments, while he delivered the lyric clear and sharp. It’s somehow, once again, reborn as a very different sounding song. I’m not sure this version totally ‘works’, but in a sense, watching something hot off the presses and so experimental, it was thrilling all the same. He seems to be sticking to the same lyric rewrites he’s been singing for the last few years, too, which I’m sure throws off many causal fans. I want to hear this version again, and it was surprising and new.

Next up were two songs that were not high points for me- a somewhat rearranged version of “Early roman kings’ that I felt lost a lot of power and just was not special or odd enough in its new incarnation. I’m not a huge fan of “Spirit on the Water” though he does deliver it effectively, and seems to be engaged in the song from beginning to end.

‘Love Sick’ was very good, though perhaps not quite as intense as some other versions I’ve seen. “All or nothing at all’ was swinging and great fun. Then came another huge highlight, perhaps the one place where the band seemed levitated several miles in the air- a raging and wonderful ‘Desolation Row”. There was so much happening in this song, the committed vocal by Bob, the little vocal syncopations he would give it, which the band would echo, the little piano riffs Bob played which the band would also throw back to him, all in a glorious feedback-loop circus frenzy that made this feel like one of the best versions I’ve ever seen him play.

From there, “Soon after midnight” felt fine, but much more pedestrian. “Long and Wasted Years’ had Bob center-stage, pacing up to the front of the stage, giving it his all in a committed, ‘wait till you hear this’ fashion. (I’m still not a huge fan of the song itself, however). Sandwiched in the middle between those two was a swinging and playful “That old black magic” and Bob and the band had great fun with it. A dramatic “Autumn Leaves” closed the main set. In the encores, “Blowin in the wind was heartfelt and straightforward. The closer, “Ballad of a Thin Man”, was wonderfully spooky and powerful as always. Perhaps it was a tad less powerful then some of the prior versions of it I’ve seen him do, but it was a great closer nevertheless.

And there ya have it, another year, another version of Bob, another wonderful show.

As people arrived at the venue doors outside after about 5 PM, VIP GA goers were given green wristbands...other GA ticket holders were given blue wristbands. All went into the theatre together at about 6:30 ...not to the floor but inside the doors to the lobby and bar (Garcia's area). At around 6:45, they asked all the VIP GA folks to make their way in thru one door (leftmost door). Then, a few minutes after, they opened the four leftmost doors so the GA / blue wristband holders could go to the floor and fill in. I was able to go to dead center about 6 people back so that was nice for me!

The security was relentlessly imposing the no cellphone rules. Made people feel bad. They were bullies about it and made it awkward waiting for the show. I know Bob wants people to not use phones, but I felt very weird because of the approach used. Was the only real bummer of the show for me.

Bob was holding his white brim / feathered hat when he went onstage but kept it off until "That Old Black Magic".

Bob wore a black suit with large red stripes on the legs. Also the black scarf with white polka dots (no moonbeems that I could see, though). Boots or shoes were black - no spats. Not sure what the other band members all wore, but I did notice Charlie had a scarf on like Bob.

Some arrangements were changed (6 I can recall):

1. A new/different Stu's Noodle - it was not "The Foggy Dew" which has been the standard for quite a while...

2. Highway 61 Revisited had a small tempo addition during the instrumental line between the lyrics "you better run" and "Well, Abe said, "Where do you want this killin' done?" and it was repeated each verse at that same spot. It felt like Charlie and Bob were trying to have the music "run" with that lyric.....and it was cool - got some of us in the crowd excited....

3. "Pay in Blood" has a very odd (to my ears) change as well. It was a walk down with a weird chord progression (bass-notes descending) and was performed on each verse during the lyrics (in the 1st verse) "Sooner or later, you'll make a mistake, I'll put you in chains that you never will break". The band repeated the new progression on each verse in that same spot. I saw Charlie mouthing the chords towards Tony and Stu one time when someone hit a bad chord or maybe seemed, (to Charlie), to be hesitant.

4. An updated "Tangled Up In Blue" - different chords and a bit of a different tempo. Melody was also modified by Bob.

5. Stu did not shake his maracas during "Early Roman Kings". (Well, at least not his instruments that were on stage...maybe he did shake his internal maracas! Go Stu!)

6. In "Ballad Of A Thin Man", Bob included the third verse (Is this rare or not? Sorry but I thought it was not an included verse of late, so I noted it here):

You hand in your ticket and you go watch the geek Who immediately walks up to you when he hears you speak And says, "How does it feel to be such a freak? And you say, "Impossible!" as he hands you a bone. And something is happening here but you don't know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?

Bob seemed to really enjoy "Spirit On The Water". A lot of smiles!

A few rust spots in playing at times. Not flawless for all, but some were: "Autumn Leaves" and "Desolation Row" come to mind as very well-played!

Overall: thank you from the bottom of my heart to Bob, his band and his crew!

Well then, it ends up being the exact same set list as the end of last tour, except for ICHTY taking WTTCMN in number 5

Good-o

In fact exact same set list I saw at The Zenith, Paris show - if there are any changes during the next two nights I presume Don't Think Twice will be replaced by To Ramona and I Could Have Told You will be replaced with Why Try To Change Me Now. Can't believe he's still going to flog Stormy Weather every show of the tour.Perhaps this will help to boost sale of Triplicate as per my prediction on that topic.

Joined: Mon July 3rd, 2006, 15:39 GMTPosts: 376Location: Up the ladder to the roof

Echoing what others have said, Desolation Row was the definite highlight for me - best version I've ever seen. And the new Tangled arrangement was really cool (having not seen him in a couple years, I didn't realize until reading this it was a new arrangement - it sounded tight and polished). I thought Things Have Changed was terrific too, and enjoyed the standards. Also Charlie had a couple really nice extended solos, at the end of Beyond Here Lies Nothing and during one other song.

Low point was Early Roman Kings. Admittedly I never liked the song much to begin with, but the current arrangement makes it even more boring than it already was!

was on rail (early entry). Band on absolute fire. Biggest note for me was Charlie was off the leash. Played all over everything with abandon and was spectacular. George literally rolled his eyes a few times, which was interesting. Tangled is an entirely different arrangement and was a mess. Not literally a mess in the sense of dropped changes but a total work in progress. Assume it'll be better tonight. Desolation was great. Really good energy overall, felt a bit like the old days. Still can't fathom why Spirit gets played.

If you ever find out let us know!! I used to think it was for reasons of crowd participation, i.e. when he got to the 'you think I'm over the hill, you think I'm past my prime' lines it used to get a great cheer from the crowd. This has now somewhat diminished and was almost non-existent at Bournemouth so your guess is as good as anyone else's. If it was just to shift some more copies of Modern Times there's loads of other songs he could use. Ain't Talkin' would be my choice. There again why doesn't Soon After Midnight get a deserved rest and Scarlet Town get a chance?

If you ever find out let us know!! I used to think it was for reasons of crowd participation, i.e. when he got to the 'you think I'm over the hill, you think I'm past my prime' lines it used to get a great cheer from the crowd. This has now somewhat diminished and was almost non-existent at Bournemouth so your guess is as good as anyone else's. If it was just to shift some more copies of Modern Times there's loads of other songs he could use. Ain't Talkin' would be my choice. There again why doesn't Soon After Midnight get a deserved rest and Scarlet Town get a chance?

I was not a big fan of sprit on the water But must say performance of it last night was excellent. Bob & band sounded spectacular. So spirit is fine with me now.

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